Thursday, January 27, 2011

::Big Q's in life::

Narrative construction

We tell stories that reflects our life, relating back to events significant to our lives and experiences. In term of meaning, narrative constructions are stories that we tell about our lives or biographies in order to make sense of our lives, to give meaning to them, Stories that try to answers big questions about WHO AM I? and WHAT IS MY LIFE ABOUT? . These stories shape our identities and give life its meaning..

* * *

That is one of the concept in sociology as applied to medicine. While listening to that lecture, her mind can't help to think of the first time she was re-introduced to her Deen, Islam. Islam came to answer all those big questions of life; WHO ARE WE? WHAT ARE OUR PURPOSES? WHERE WILL WE GO AFTER WE DIE? Realising it or not, we human did try to find out the answers to all those questions, and being our Creator, Allah knows best and He gave us guidance to that.

Biographical Disruption

The way in which people's lives become profoundly disrupted by trauma, chronic illness or injury. Not only is a persons physical body disrupted, but also, the narrative constrictions or stories that have made up their biographies or lives, their self identities. (Mike Bury (1982) 'Chronic Illness as Biographical Disruption')

* * *

Any challenges that we human face in that leads to changes in how we see life and how we can tell stories about ourselves and our experiences.

The way she see it, it is any tests that Allah will put onto His servants as He create the human being with the ability to hear and see to be tested.

"Lo! We create man from a drop of thickened fluid to test him; so We make him hearing, seeing"

(Al-Insan; 76:2)

This bring the lecture to the third concept;

Narrative Reconstructions

Following an accident or illness, our stories or narrative constructions are disrupted or disorganised and we need to tell new stories to bring coherence and meaning back to our lives.

* * *

Her thought wanders again. This time to how a Muslim should react when life is not as wonderful as it supposed to be. We do have our narrative reconstructions, but giving it back to our LORD, believing that there will always be a silver lining in every cloud, Believing that He will not test us on something that we are not capable of. Believing that He is the All-Knowing and He knows what best for us. With that, it supposed to make it easier for the Muslim to accept whatever fate that Allah had set for him/her. With that, the heart should be filled with contentment and tawakkal to Him and in every seconds of a Muslim's life, he will always accept (redha) whatever that had been set for him.

That lecture made her ponder upon a lot of things. How every single concept that is relevant to a human's life can be found in this DEEN. It is the way of life and hopefully, every single things that she encounters throughout her life will make her remember her Lord even more, inshaAllah.

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"And say: "Work (righteousness): Soon will Allah observe your work, and His Messenger, and the Believers: Soon will ye be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will He show you the truth of all that ye did." [9:105]